Cyclone Ului relief funds reach families

The Red Cross is this week sending out payments from the Premier's Disaster Relief Appeal to help residents affected by Cyclone Ului in north Queensland.

Red Cross Queensland executive director Greg Goebel says payments totalling $150,000 are being sent out to 130 families who were severely affected by the March cyclone that hit Mackay.

He says applications were received from across the region.

"There are checks and account balances going out for about $150,000 and that's covering a number of applications we received from Mackay, Finch Hatton, Eungella, Airlie Beach and Proserpine," Mr Goebel said.

"It' been a fairly difficult and lengthy operation to make sure that the funds are directed to those people who are most in need ... to get their lives back on track."

Mr Goebel says about 300 funding applications were received.

"We are confident that the payments from the appeal will be reaching the neediest," he said.

"There were a number of people who [were] clearly in an economic position where they would recover.

"But equally there were a number of pensioners, single parent families with a lot of children, who were affected and that's where we're targeting the fund, to make sure that those who were unlikely to recover are given a little bit of a helping amount of money."